清淨 大愛 無量義

二千五百多年前，佛陀以其清凈的智慧與深切的悲願，尋思宇宙人生真理，透徹了悟，廣傳教化，普潤眾生。兩千五百年後的今天，佛法更為科學所證明，人間所受用。

佛陀說法四十九年，先廣演方便法，以法水洗滌眾生無明煩惱；四十二年後捨方便就正直，說演《法華經》以教菩薩法，直指菩薩心行真實義。《法華經》之精髓在《無量義經》，指點眾生學習佛菩薩之德行，體會佛菩薩之心境，並詳述以大願力展現之無比功德。

四十多年來，慈濟人依循《無量義經》之要旨，內修清凈心、外行菩薩道，推展四大志業於國際。於此環境危機，事局紛亂之際，更願秉承上證下嚴上人「佛法生活化，菩薩人間化」之教示，啟發人心善念，弘揚清凈大愛，廣傳佛法真實義於世間。

期待透過此「清淨‧大愛‧無量義」音樂手語劇---《無量義經》經典之演繹，讓觀眾領受佛法之奧妙，深獲法益，進而以佛法凈化人心、祥和社會、祈求天下無災無難。

With the rapid advancement of science and technology today, different kinds of man-made and natural destructions have caused climatic disorders and frequent catastrophes.

Among people, there is a gradual lack of humility, kind gentleness and true sincerity of care and concern for one another.

Life seems to drift on aimlessly without any clear direction; there is a human quest for the ultimate truth, an aspiration to administer the medication of the Dharma’s Teachings as nourishment for the mental spirit.

Over two thousand five hundred years ago, Lord Buddha, after contemplating on the ultimate nature of all phenomena with his pure wisdom and profound compassion, attained supreme enlightenment and expounded the Dharma widely to nourish all sentient beings. Today, the doctrines of Buddhist dharma have stood the test of time over the past twenty-five centuries, proven by science and technology as well as their pragmatic applications and practical implementations in the human realm.

The Buddha expounded on the Dharma teachings over a period of 49 years. He started with a discourse on expedient means, by applying the Dharma to dispel sentient beings from their delusions and afflictions. After 42 years, he forsaken such expedient means to focus on the skill-in-means and expounded on the “Lotus Sutra” to teach the practice of the bodhisattva way which points directly towards the ultimate reality of Bodhisattva’s spirit. The essence of the “Lotus Sutra” which is derived from “The Sutra of Innumerable Teachings” guides sentient beings to emulate the virtues of the Buddha, to comprehend the mental spirit of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas, and to describe explicitly the immeasurable merits that could be manifested through great vows.

For the past forty years and more, Tzu Chi volunteers have abided by the essence of [The Sutra of Innumerable Meanings], by practicing self cultivation to purify the inner mind and played their roles as living Bodhisattva as they set forth to develop the four major missions of Tzu Chi globally. In this period of time riddled with environmental crisis and social disorder, we must further pledged ourselves to abide by Master Cheng Yen’s guidance “to integrate the Buddha’s teachings into our daily lives and to bring living Bodhisattvas into the human realm”, so as to transpire the thought of goodness in the human mind, to spread the purity of Great Love and to pass on the ultimate reality of the Buddha’s Teachings to the world.
It is hoped that this musical sign language and drama performance with the theme “Purity, Great Love, Innumerable Meanings”, which is a presentation of “The Sutra of Innumerable Meanings”, would bring the audience the profoundness of the Buddha’s Teachings and inconceivable merits as an effort to purify the human mind, to foster harmony in society and to pray for a world free of disasters.